PhannieMay2019
by Enby-Neti
Summary: Lawrence Lancer was not an idiot. A portal to another dimension opening in the doorway of his classroom was not something he deemed normal, even after everything that had happened this last year. Phanniemay2019
1. Doorway(s) to September (Doorways)

Lawrence Ethan Lancer was a lot of things, a man, a teacher…

An idiot wasn't one of them.

As such, he immediately stilled when he saw a peculiar group huddled close to one another in front of the old history classroom.

Samantha Manson and Tucker Foley left unsupervised and without their friend Daniel Fenton were never a good sign.

(He still remembered vividly the march for and against meat at the cafeteria, and how such a simple conflict between two friends had developed into a fully fleshed out riot for all of the town.

A terrifying day it was.)

(Something he still couldn't explain too.)

Lawrence was about to go and stop whatever new mischief they were plotting, when he spotted someone else in the group.

Surely, Jasmine Fenton would be able to contain them for the time being. And keep them from blowing up his classroom.

(Oh Shakespeare, what was he thinking ? Nothing, no one apart from Daniel could ever stop them.)

He took another step forward, and then again stopped, because of the last figure standing in the group.

They were quite a bit smaller than the rest of them, and if he had to guess, he'd give them 13 to 14 years old, maybe even less. They had jet black hair, similar enough to Samantha's, buzzed short and neatly, half hidden under a blue space-themed beanie that did jolt his memory a little, as did the forest green hoodie and dirty sneakers.

Point was, he didn't know them. And he prided himself for his knowledge of every student that had ever stepped into Casper High, at least by face and name.

He took yet another step forward, before stopping again when he got a better view of their face.

God, did Daniel ever mention a younger sibling ?

They were like the splitting image of the young man when he first met him. Lean, hunched over, bags under their eyes, small smile and this sort of strength in their vulnerability.

And more than anything, their blue, deep, infinite eyes.

But then again, Amity Park always moved too quickly for anyone to comprehend, and an instant after Lancer perceived their face, they grabbed the doorknob of his classroom's door, and pulled.

A flash of green forced Lawrence to blink quite a few times, all the while his brain tried to register what had just happened.

In the spot where his classroom should have stood, there was instead… a green void.

Swirls of the color floated around, some of them near the children curling around the doorway and brushing against the door itself. In between those snakes of… liquid ? Fumes ? Were hundreds of doors, some similar to his class's, others completely different. Hundreds of designs, from all eras, floating around in this strange place he was witnessing.

He felt hypnotized by what laid behind this door. A different world, something he'd never seen before and yet something that seemed familiar, in a sickening, soothing, frightening way.

He couldn't tear his eyes of the void.

That is, until the child he did not recognize jumped into the void.

Immediately followed by his students.

Lawrence had no time to cry out before the door closed again on the children, green light cut off so quick the hallway seemed darker than ever.

He ran to the door, calling for Samantha and Tucker, but no one answered. He called for Jasmine but no one opened the door again and the swirls had disappeared.

And when he opened the door and stumbled through the doorway…

There was only his classroom behind.


	2. Back to school secrets (Secrets)

The following days, Samantha and Tucker showed up in class in time, homework done and looking perfectly rested, and none the wiser about what their teacher had witnessed.

(September's end was coming closer and closer, and Lancer still hadn't a clue on what happened that day.

He had become a teacher for Hus love of teaching and his love of knowledge.

He hated not knowing.)

No matter how often Lawrence tried to corner one of them and finally get an explanation to what he had seen, he never got to actually discuss the question of that other dimension. Samantha was just too clever, always redirecting the conversation to one of the papers he assigned them or a project he was working on as the sole teacher that actually cared a little bit about the school, and Tucker was just too slippery, using clubs, classes and homework to evade any conversation Lawrence would try to have with him.

They kept their secrets well.

After two weeks, the teacher admitted they had defeated him.

The two troublemakers wouldn't talk to him, Jasmine wasn't his student anymore (and she was far too clever to let anything slip, she knew him too well after all this time) and he didn't know the slightest thing about the child from that other day.

That left only one option.

Not to say that Daniel was less clever than his sister or friends but Lancer knew how to deal with him far more than he did the others.

(Years of trying to help two siblings raising themselves did that.)

So, Lawrence asked the young Daniel to stay after class one day, both to end him out another extra-credit assignment and to finally understand what in the Victorian Era had happened.

(Yes, Daniel hadn't been there, but this boy just couldn't be lied to. Especially by his closest friends and sister.)

The young man seemed really worried when he came up in front of the class at the end of the day, fists tight around his backpack and biting his lips.

And he seemed quite aware that Lawrence had something to ask him.

Well. It couldn't go that badly. Whatever the secret, or secrets they shared was, such good (if chaotic) kids couldn't be hiding something that terrible.

(Right ?)

"Daniel, I meant to ask you something."

The boy stilled, eyeing the open door.

"Yes, Sir ?"

"Do you know if Miss Manson and Mister Foley got involved in something… strange recently ?"

"Wha-what ?"

"Something… ghost-related, perhaps ?"

Oh, he was even paler than usual.

Lawrence had probably screwed up somewhere along the line.

"Daniel, are you- "

A little stream of mist escaped from Daniel's lips.

Lawrence blinked. It was September 28th already, yes, but it wasn't that cold yet.

A second later, the young man bolted out without a word.

Oh. Maybe the suspicious little group from the other day wasn't the only one with secrets then.


	3. Grave October (Grave)

"Jazz, I swear he's onto me !"

"Its been more than a year now, Ny. Why would he suspect anything after all this time ?"

"I don't know but…"

Lawrence, after spending three days torturing himself in how to approach Daniel again, because he had, for his own conscience at least, to make sure the boy and his friends were safe and _not_ involved with ghosts in any way, was more than astounded to find the Fenton siblings at the cemetery on the first day of October.

(That the two of them still managed to surprise him this often, after the numerous, ghostly events of the last year was a testament to how shocking the children were on a daily basis.)

Lawrence himself was visiting a grave that day, his sister's, as he did every first of the month, when he spotted them, a little further away from the neat tombstones.

The Fenton children were conversing in whispers a bit further, where laid the oldest, sometimes nameless graves, dug before the county renovated the cemetery. There, under an old, weeping tree, were three tumbs, and a circle of 12 others around the tree trunk.

(Lawrence frowned. He'd never noticed this peculiar arrangement before.)

Jasmine was sitting cross-legged before a nameless (at least from what he could see) grave, one that seemed the oldest of the three, apparently tying a bunch of flowers and leaves together in a crown, while her brother, cup of steaming coffee (or any other hot beverage) in his hand and holding another basket of green material, was balancing himself _onto_ the gravestone, legs dangling in front of the rock carelessly.

Daniel was sitting on a grave, and it seemed like he perfectly belonged there.

(Was there any thought more disturbing to a teacher, than to think their student belonged in a graveyard ?)

They were talking low, but Lawrence found himself just close enough to overhear most of their conversation.

"If anyone was to ever find out, you said yourself it would be him ! And he was acting weird, ever since we went back to school."

"Everyone is weird. This is Amity Park. And they seem especially weird to you."

"Doesn't mean I'm not right."

"I know."

The rest was too silent for Lawrence to grasp anything, and he didn't dare approach them any further.

No curiosity nor worry could warrant on spying over grieving children.

(Because, for all they smiled and laughed, joked and whispered cheerfully, there was something, in the atmosphere around them, that reeked of sorrow.

Of… despair even.)

The children spent hours there, until Jasmine had created 14 crowns and solemnly laid them on top of each grave, except for the one Daniel was sitting on. The last crown, simply a circle of _myosotis_, ended in perched on Daniel's dark locks, and he gave his sister a crooked, awkward little smile as he thanked her.

The children got up, stayed silent before the graves for a few minutes, before Jasmine slipped her hand into Daniel's and they left.

The sun was just setting.

They had spent the full day there, maybe even longer than Lawrence had.

He didn't knew what to think.

(Had he ever, with these children ?)


	4. Halloween Wish (Wishes)

A month after Lawrence had met (without meaning to, mind you) the Fenton children, the whole town was getting ready for Halloween.

After more than a full year with ghosts living among them, and the disaster that day had been last time, the school and mayor had decided to equip the school, and every other public institution like the hospital and the city hall, of a Fenton Anti-Ectoplasmic-Entity Dome Shield - or Fenton Shield as a raccourci.

Lancer, despite the scowl he wore through the whole presentation of the project and its installation, was actually glad that his students would finally be given the protection they should have had _since the beginning of the attacks_.

As such, he was just a little less worried than he had first been with the prospect of another Halloween with actual ghosts roaming around.

A _little_.

That worry, however, hadn't kept him from sharing the excitement of the school, as Halloween fell on a school day and the educative team had decided to organize a little party through the afternoon.

What they hadn't thought about in their planning for the event, was the usual troublemakers - that was to say, the strange trio of Manson, Foley and younger Fenton (if he didn't count the strange child from earlier that year) - inviting ghosts to the afternoon.

Ghosts.

Actual, living (dying ?) ghosts, simply roaming through the gym and chatting away with their students.

Students who seemed perfectly okay with those unexpected guests, once they pushed through the initial surprise and anxiety.

Lawrence doesn't know whether he should be proud of his students to try and include every inhabitant of Amity Park, be they living or dead, impressed that they went this far to help add to the scare factor of the party, or thoroughly terrified of the spirits that ate currently taking over the school, _despite the shield._

(He will not question how they made it through. It would be a stupid question, since the Fenton children (and their friends) are clearly to thank, and to blame for this.)

Indecisive as he was, the teacher could only watch as Mickey bowed clumsily to what seemed like a giggling noble woman, Dash was sharing bass tips with the musical artist that had once hypnotized the greatest part of the student body and Star was teaching a scientist-like ghost actual teenage slang.

Mr Foley seemed to be having an heated argument in an ancient language (was that Esperanto ? His lazy, uninterested student that couldn't speak another language that English for more than a minute, fluent in Esperanto ?) with a gigantic, sharp-clawed werewolf, and Ms Manson herself was apparently discussing the usefulness of eternal youthfulness with a tiny child dressed as a fantasy adventurer (and despite having never seen him before, Lawrence couldn't help but think it fitted him more than a pirate).

Jasmine was apparently perfectly happy sitting in a corner with Spike, two young adults sitting on a motorcycle with a shadow drapped over their shoulders like a scarf, and a bulky ghost in pajamas, sharing a hug and laughing at something Lancer hadn't heard.

He glanced once at Daniel, before turning his back on him and swearing to himself he would not watch in this direction again.

The giant, bear-like creature sporting a crystalized version of an arm, bone apparent, and a ghost who's appearance seemed to be fluctuating between different times were not his business.

Neither was the giant blue woman with four arms that was crouching besides them, Daniel sitting on her knee.

No. Not his business at all.

(When had he last been in control of what happened in that school ?)

Lawrence was already exhausted, and the party had only begun half an hour ago.

It was going to be endless.

"Ah… I hope… I wish for a calm, tranquil, happy day, just once, just today. Safety and fun."

He would never admit it, but he did almost jump out of his own skin when a voice answered in his ear.

"So you have wished…"

The genie smiled at him, a magenta spark flying from her hand up through the ceiling, before she wandered away to join the party without another word or glance.

Lawrence began to breathe again only after he had completely lost sight of her.


	5. Bring your kids to work (Second Gen)

Lawrence smiled down at his nephew, the little boy bouncing in his seat as they waited for the bell to finally ring.

The Halloween party had gone perfectly well, despite the initial worry and the heart attack that ghost - Desiree, he'd learnt later - had almost given him.

(He'd made sure to offer her flowers as a thanks, Jasmine more than happy to play the mailwoman for him.)

Now, as november began, there was another event to celebrate.

Little Nathan, named after his great grandfather Nathanael Lancer, had been living with Lawrence for three years now, ever since his parents had died in a car accident.

The 7 years-old had been excited for this particular day for months. Each day, he would ask when Uncle Law' would finally bring him to the 'grown-up school' and show him how good of a teacher he was.

His nephew was simply adorable.

Finally, the bell rang, and his students began pouring in the classroom, chatting between themselves, and only a few noticing the child sitting beside their teacher.

Samantha and Tucker came in last, Daniel nowhere in sight, but Lawrence was now used to the chronic tardiness of his student, and left the door open for him.

"Good morning, class. As you may know, today is a special day for us teachers, as it is the only day through the year where we are allowed to bring our children to work."

The class hummed in agreement. They did knew of this day, even though it had been cancelled the previous year, because of the still new and unknown threat of spirits.

Thanks to the new shield, the event had been scheduled again this year.

"As such, I'd like to introduce you to my nephew, Nathan. I hope you will behave and show him how studious and responsible high-schoolers, yes ?"

The students nodded, a collective smile in the room as they greeted and welcomed a blushing child into their group and Dash (Lawrence had never understood how the name Howard could melt into this particular nickname) volunteered to go fetch an extra desk for the kid.

When he came back with the furniture, he was followed by an exhausted looking Daniel, and two other people.

Lawrence blinked heavily, as he recognized the child that had reminded him so much of the youngest Fenton at the beginning of the year. They were dressed in a similar way they had been that day, same beanie, same hoodie, darker pants and what seemed like new shoes.

Their presence besides Daniel confirmed two things : they did knew each other, and they did look eerily like each other. If the age difference wasn't as clear, Lawrence would even dare say they looked like twins.

The other silhouette… now they were a frightening site.

Tall, dark and brooding. Long pitch black hair tightly braided, resting on their chest, almost to their navel. A thin, almost emaciated face, giving off an older look than the person probably was. Clothes a dark palette too, except for the bright, space-themed belt they sported around their waist, holding up their dark green, torn jeans.

Lawrence didn't question their eyes. They were blue, similar to Daniel and his little twin's, but he didn't miss the red circle around the iris.

All in all, they looked like triplets, all pulled from a different time of their lives.

After a minute of observation, Lawrence shook himself out of his surprise and contemplation, to turn his attention back to Daniel.

"Mr Fenton, could you explain please ?"

"Well, this is 'Bring your kids to work day' today, right ?"

"Indeed Mr- Daniel. That doesn't explain the presence of your friends however."

The smile he got for that was just a little too toothy and sharp for his liking.

"Well we're celebrating the holiday with you all ! I brought mine !"

"I- … Nevermind. Mr Baxter, could you accompany Mr Fenton to go fetch two more desks ?"

Lawrence didn't question Daniel anymore throughout the day, and asked his colleagues to do the same.

They would probably not obtain any kind of straight answers, only headaches inducing ones, and they wouldnt be anywhere closer to the truth.

But he didn't ask the two guests to leave either.

It'd been a long time since he saw that kind of joy on Daniel's tired face.

And if those Ellie and Van were responsible for it, he wouldn't be the one to chase them away.


	6. Compromises in detention

"Detention, Mr Fenton."

Daniel nodded without looking up at Lawrence, clutching the straps of his bag tightly as he slipped in his seat.

The teacher sighed silently, before going back to his current lecture on Arthur Conan Doyle's writing style, and the next paper he would assign the class.

(A simple creative writing paper, where they would try and emulate a description as did Doyle in Holmes' lines. Easy credit, if you asked him.)

Daniel, although he did succeed in getting his grades back up ever since the Incident, was still the master of tardiness and absences of Casper High.

(The young man got detentions for that more than often, and every one of his teachers had apparently decided that Lawrence was to oversee each of those, as Daniel was 'his student'.)

Lawrence sighed again.

Daniel was a kind boy, a brave and respectful young man that did his best everyday, the teacher knew.

That didn't mean he didn't have problems like anyone.

After all, even Jasmine hadn't had a pristine record at first.

(The Fenton family would be his downfall, really. Or at least that of his career.)

But Daniel was a good kid.

That was why Lawrence would keep on making compromises, at least for a little while more.

Like giving the boy a few detentions a week to make sure he would have the time and resources to finish his papers in time.

AN : (_Short one, not that inspired with this prompt right now.)_


	7. Solar Eclipse on a Snowy Day

A solar eclipse.

If the previsions were exact, Amity Park, Illinois, would witness a solar eclipse that day.

Lawrence eyed the skies thoughtfully.

The snowstorm that had buried the city under it's cold cover for the three last days had finally calmed down earlier in the night, and a pale sun was shining upon their heads, not hot enough to melt the white blanket of snow.

Because of the weather, there were less than a third of the students actually attending their classes that day, and only 5 students in his own classroom.

Howard Baxter (and would he ever understand why he was nicknamed 'Dash' ?), Michael 'Mickey' Archer, Pauline Alvarez-DeGracia, Wesley Weston and, obviously, Daniel Fenton were sitting in their respective seats - that was to say, the further away from the others students (except for Dash and Paulina, who were seemingly cooing over each other besides the window.)

Lawrence eyed the back of the class. While it was true that there were only 5 of his students, there was one more teenager in his classroom that day, sitting right besides Daniel.

'Van', as Daniel and his friends had called them, hadn't spoken a word apart from a polite, if very formal greeting when they entered the room with the youngest Fenton. The young person hadn't said anything to the others students, though he had nodded in Michael's direction, before following Daniel to their seats.

Ever since then, the two of them had stayed mostly silent (although Lawrence wasn't blind to the paper sheet they scribbled on periodically.)

Lawrence looked at the hour again, before clapping his hands together, smiling at the teenagers.

"Well, children, would you like to come outside and see the solar eclipse ?"

Michael, Wes and Daniel jumped to their feet immediately, and despite their groans and protests, Pauline and Dash seemed interested enough in the eclipse to follow their lead.

'Van', though lest enthusiastic that Daniel, had gotten up quickly too. Maybe they did like those phenomenons too ?

(Lawrence found that he was intrigued by the two strange non-Fenton children that Daniel had once introduced as 'his'. Much like Jasmine and Daniel still intrigued him to this day.)

The class followed Lawrence up to the roof, students fumbling with the glasses their teacher had ended them before they left the classroom.

Daniel and Van were at the back of the little herd, and while the taller of them was wearing a thick coat, as they should with this weather, but Daniel was only wearing a thin jean-like jacket. Strange. (Again. But not a bad thing per say. After all, their whole town was strange in itself.)

Once everyone settled on the roof, they once again parted in little groups. Wesley and Michael began to talk about the eclipse coming, and what it could imply on an astrological plane, while Dash and Paulina were watching something on the cheerleader's phone.

Daniel and Van were sitting near the fence, legs tangled together as they whispered to each other, a few feet away from the rest of the group.

Then they got up, and put on their glasses, and looked up at the sky.

The other students and teacher followed, and looked at the sun too.

Slowly, the moon appeared in the corner of their sight, and its darkness began to cut off the light from the star of the day.

His students seemed mesmerized by the sight, and it wasn't that surprising, since they'd probably never seen any solar eclipse before this day. Lawrence hoped that the students that weren't there would still enjoy this phenomenon.

After a minute, both celestial bodies finally aligned and the solar eclipse exploded in front of their eyes.

It was still, even if Lawrence had already experienced this sight, a magnificent thing to see.

If Lawrence Lancer had been anyone else, he might not have heard the whisper beside him, too focused on the sky.

But he'd always had been a little bit more attentive that most.

"It's just like us."

(Van seemed deeply amazed by what they were experiencing, even more so than the other students. As for Daniel, he did look more... nostalgic than anything else. Another weird detail.)

"Just like us, uh ?"

He didn't knew what Van meant by this. But Daniel's smile when he did answer was too weary and pained to mean anything remotely good.


	8. Sisters

Lawrence was just going on a grocery run for the week when he crossed the path of Jasmine Fenton and the young Ellie probably-a-Fenton-but-who-knows.

They were standing a little further away from him, arms half full of everything one might need for a camping trip, sleeping bags and tent included.

"So, where are you heading next ?"

"Probably Perú. Seems like a good place for some hiking."

Jasmine nodded, picking up two sort of soap and scanning the components thoughtfully for a minute.

"And after that ? There's still a full month until the solstice."

"Van wants to see the rock cliffs in Ireland for himself."

"Hmm. They are quite a sight."

The older (probably) of the two tucked two pillows, night blue and pearl grey into Ellie's arms, right besides the matching sleeping bags that were half hanging off her shoulders.

Jasmine herself was holding onto a bag full of cans, shampoo and soap, and was just adding toothbrushes in when she spoke again. A tent was hanging off on her elbow.

"Ny wanted to go with you, you know ?"

(That nickname brought Lawrence back to the first day of October, in the graveyard. That was one moment he did not like to remember.)

"He hadn't said anything."

"Obviously. It's Ny we're talking about."

Jasmine grabbed two books, adventure novels that he remembered gifting his nephew (some stories about a boy who couldn't fit in and befriended those he shouldn't have, for the best) and tucked them in her bag as well, careful not to fold the covers in between the cans.

"A book ?"

"It'll keep him entertained at least for a little longer."

"Wish he could come."

The older didn't answer immediately, instead turning around and beginning to walk toward the exit and the cashiers.

The last thing he heard from the children made him drop his own groceries.

"I know, little sister. I know."

(Lawrence didn't notice when he left the shop, but he hadn't picked up any items on his list.)


	9. Design and Redesign

Daniel's homework is, on the best of days, mildly coherent. That is to say, he always finds good arguments, always has references to his different theories or interpretation, but has a few problems organizing them past the bullet-point stage of an essay.

Lawrence is quite proud when the young man hands in a very coherent essay after two weeks of biweekly detentions spent together with him, a sharp, thoughtful and quite intuitive analysis of the social commentary in _L'Assommoir_, their last studied book.

(That work was not an easy assignment by any means, nor was the reading, and Lawrence made sure to praise Daniel for getting both done despite his chaotic academic performances.)

He keeps the paper for last as he grades the class, content with the attention everyone seems to have given to this one piece of homework despite its difficulty.

As he flips through the papers, he notices the doodles in the margin, because he asked the students to hand in their drafts, no matter the state as long as they were clean. He easily recognizes Howard's draft despite the missing name, little football players running along the top of the page after a flying ball. Paulina's is easy to spot, because it is the only one with no doodles whatsoever, and full paragraphs cleanly written in her usual vivid ink. Star's doodles are always the same, a small whale-shark in the top corner and its progress all around her draft dividing each part of her thinking process clearly. Kwan liked to draw cats lazing around titles and corners, all fluid curves as his cursive was. Tucker's taken the habit of writing in equations and math formulas as stand-ins for the usual abbreviations, and for this one draft, he took the time to write a small lexicon on the side, for 'Mr Lancer sir !' to fully understand his work. Samantha's ghosts could move on the paper that Lawrence wouldn't be surprised. She always had an uncanny ability to make even the silliest of doodles seem alive, and the inspiration brought by the undead roaming their town only added to her 'gift'. Wes is the same, though his ghosts are always creatures of horror, Eldritch-levels of abomination, opposite to the very _human-like_ tendencies of Samantha's. Mickey has taken to flowers lately, and Lawrence hopes their art teacher has listened and included them in his next assignment for that class.

Overall, all drafts are clean, coherent and very doodled on. As an high-schooler draft should always be.

(He knows old colleagues in other towns that would have choked up on their own tongue at seeing any letter out of the lines on a draft.

Such dramatics for nothing, really. They didn't even have ghosts in between classes and always complained about how immature their students were. Lucky folks.)

Once Lawrence has graded all the papers, passing grades for every student and extra-credit for their drafts (with one more point for Tucker and his lexicon), Lawrence finally allows himself to pick up Daniel's work. Six full pages, rounded letters slightly tilted from a quick redaction, name scribbled above the title, a thank-you note for Mr Lancer pinned at the top.

The draft, previously stuck in the middle of the pile, falls on his desk first.

Draft_s_, actually.

The first one has the usual doodles in the middle of the bullet-point list : space-themed, small will-o'the-wisps along the page, a little caricature of Jasmine at the bottom with her graduate cap and robe and a rough drawing of the book Daniel was dissecting on the draft.

As all things were with Daniel, his draft-doodles were chaotic in theme and spacing, but neat in execution.

The other sheet, however, has nothing to do with _L'Assommoir_ or even Literature as a course. It has, instead, everything to do with their local superhero and dead teenager Danny Phantom.

On the page are dozens of small sketches of a very well-known costume, the black-and-white design resolutely penciled all over the page. Twelve models, and each sporting some variation of the simple jumpsuit (the same jumpsuit the Fentons wore...), with added accessories, armor, different gloves or boots, a facemask, even some _swords_ drawn along the belt of the third design. Daggers, guns (and still so reminiscent of the Fentons' designs, some he knew were from Jasmine's own hand...), and the eternal thermos Phantom always brought everywhere with him...

It's Phantom's jumpsuit. There's no way around it, no doubt, even with the variations added.

Daniel (because the little comments around the different sketches are his student's writing, sure as he is his teacher, mixed in with Jasmine's neat and small cursive) has, probably by mistake, handed Lawrence a draft full of details over how Danny Phantom himself worked.

Down to the fact that the suit was not worn, but was merely _materialized_, built from ambient ectoplasm and linked to Phantom's core. It could sound nonsensical, but Lawrence was an Amity inhabitant.

(Everyone here knew what ectoplasm was.)

Daniel was, for all intent and purpose, much more familiar with their teenage undead superhero than anyone had yet suspected (as was Jasmine, but she wasn't _his_ student like Daniel still was).

To the point of redesigning the ghost's costume.

Lawrence looks down at the last sketch, the dual belts, the green highlights along the legs, the now fingerless gloves and the high collar covering the mannequin's mouth, the white parts replaced by mat grey, the boots now crawling up mid-calf…

Then he flips back to Howard's work. The quarterback always illustrates his works in literature, to reference his examples, and has used, as always, Phantom in this essay, as proof that social determinism was not real, because "Every scientist believing in ghosts may say they are emotionless, cruel monsters, and we were all once scared of Phantom, but that didn't keep him from becoming a hero".

The picture he'd chosen was pretty recent, taken by Star for the school journal.

The costume depicted there, as Phantom flew above the football field, the Hunter ghost after him, was the perfect copy of the sketch. But that had happened only yesterday, and the article Star had written _was_ about this change of costume, when the day before, Phantom had been his usual self, simple hazmat (Fenton) suit and all. Lawrence himself has seen him, because he had been that Lunch Lady ghost again, right through the professors' office.

This redesign was less than two days old.

Daniel had handed in his work a week ago.

* * *

_(I'm…. Alive ?)_

_(And very very sorry)_

_(And not garanteeing the following chapters cause... took me a year to be inspired for this ?)_

_(sorry)_

* * *

Posted 24.08.20


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